South African retail sales fall 0.8% in January

Source: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

The largest negative contributors to this decrease were retailers in: food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-7.3% and contributing -0.7 of a percentage point); and hardware, paint and glass (-4.8% and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 1.5% in January 2023 compared with December 2022. This followed month-on-month changes of -0.5% in December 2022 and 1.1% in November 2022.

South African retail sales dip 0.6% in December

16 Feb 2023

Retail trade sales decreased by 0.2% in the three months ended January 2023 compared with the three months ended January 2022.

The largest negative contributors to this decrease were retailers in: hardware, paint and glass (-5.4% and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point); food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-4.2% and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point); and pharmaceuticals and medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries (-4.0% and contributing -0.3 of a percentage point).

The largest positive contributor was retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (4.3% and contributing 0.8 of a percentage point).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 1.3% in the three months ended January 2023 compared with the previous three months. The largest contributors to this increase were: retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (5,0% and contributing 0,9 of a percentage point); and all ‘other’ retailers (3.9% and contributing 0.4 of a percentage point).